I have used Fredrix oil primer for years, but not just as a primer; I use its as my basic white for mixing with oil colors. I have found that too often titanium white from tubes or jars cracks when dried--especially Permalba white. The Fredrix white remains essentially non-yellowing and flexible. However, when a brilliant white is needed for high intensity, traditional tube whites are needed, since the Fredrix primer by nature is more subdued.

I decided to prime a brand new canvas. The can says "non-yellowing". Unfortunately this product turned my entire canvas a vomit-yellow-grey, rendering it completely useless. Waste of time/labor/money, as I stretched and rabbit skin glued a 4x6' canvas myself. I've been painting for over a decade, building and priming my own strainers and this is the worst quality product I've ever purchased.

I recently tried Fredrix Oil Priming ground and really liked it-enough to switch from Gamblin Ground. I have used Gamblin Ground for years and I like to use it as a final top coat over acrylic gesso on larger canvases because the paint goes on more vibrantly (it soaks in less than on acrylic gesso) and it may be more archival. The Gamblin goes on thicker - so it's more painstaking to apply over a big surface - and takes a week to dry. The Fredrix takes 2-3 days to dry and goes on more thinly - like interior house paint consistency - so it took half the time to apply. The dry Fredrix surface is extremely comparable to the Gamblin surface - very similar and less work and time to achieve. Two thumbs up!

I've used lead primer and in some ways i prefer this primer. It needs a lot of stirring to get it smooth. I recommend using a stirring tool with a power drill - it saves lots of time and does it right. You get a smooth shiny surface. I put it on in a way that has a few imperfections on the panel surface.

I am on my second can of Fredrix Oil Priming. Both cans had settled quite a bit, probably from just sitting on the shelf but if you shake the can prior to opening or use something to stir it, it will mix quite nicely. They were both extremely smooth and chunk-free and there is a sizable amount of linseed oil inside. I switched over from using acrylic gesso so my standards were not that high ;) oil is just far superior no matter how you slice it. I use my oil priming on top of rabbit skin glue. I really like them together. If you do not close the lid tightly enough it will dry out quite a bit, and drying does create "strings" and chunks, so be sure to hammer it closed tightly every time. The only other thing is that I have not used any other kind of oil priming and this can is fairly small so the price can be kind of disconcerting. I've been told by other users that it should last fairly long--I had one can last me for about 6-7 months (one semester and a little bit more) but the last little bit of it dried out and this was because I went out of town (IE did not use it) and did not close the lid very tightly. Thus far I like it a LOT more than acrylic, which is what I am comparing it to.

I've applied this product to three canvases (sized with PVA) of various sizes. It's my first time using an oil primer and this stuff really stinks for the first few days of drying. The worst part is that it is full of little flakes or chunks and I spent a significant amount of time carefully picking off these flakes from my canvas! I think I'm stuck with it now. I've only painted one layer on one of these so far, and it seems to be doing its job as a primer. But the chunks are unacceptable. Do not buy this product!

The price of this product compared to similar, competitive alternatives is:

Average

Bottom LineNo, I would not recommend this to a friend

Merchant response: We apologize, it sounds as though you have received defective product. At Blick we attempt to send out every order free from defect or damage. However, these types of issues do arise occasionally. Customers who receive defective items should contact our Customer Service department via email or by calling (800) 723-2787 and we will work with you to rectify the situation.